It’s tough to beat Wandsworth Conservatives: they’ve been in power for 40 years and they set the lowest council tax in Britain. We wanted to get across a positive message that Wandsworth is a great place to live – but its Tory council has the wrong values. This video explains that basic story to voters. I set out the full narrative in this Town Hall speech.

Repetition is important when you’re trying to get a message across.

Thankfully, video makes this a lot easier. Since the start of this year, Wandsworth Labour’s had around 250,000 views of our videos on Facebook. Thanks to the networks we’ve built, and Facebook’s technology, this content was targeted to people who’d consider voting Labour in Wandsworth.

I knew our strategy was working when other parents in the playground at school drop-off started saying to me: “Your videos are all over my Facebook and twitter!”

2. Why I’m voting Labour on May 3(5,000 views, 65 likes, 31 shares)

More and more people across Wandsworth are choosing to vote Labour this Thursday, 3rd May.

Get to know your audience and think about how they’ll consume your content.

This video was released in the final week of the campaign. The idea is to capture the attention of voters who focus on the election late on – and to put across the idea that ‘more and more people like me are choosing to vote Labour’.

Captions and clear graphics are crucial. Initially, we didn’t put subtitles on the videos. Then we realised most people were watching our videos on mobile phones so subtitles and really clear graphics were essential. (The subtitles are usually uploaded as separate files to Facebook so don’t appear on the twitter embeds on this page)

Every election is different. This was the first election where most of our contact with voters was digital. And through mobile phones, rather than desktop computers.

However, like all the six videos here, the Battersea Power Station video was shot by a professional with a high-spec camera and microphone. It makes such a difference. We’re fortunate to have a lot of talent in our local Labour Party.

The Tory council allowed the property developers at Battersea Power Station to cut 250 affordable homes from the scheme. This video helped us to make this a key election issue. It was a real buzz when voters started repeating the 250 figure back to us on the doorstep – proof the issue had resonated.

Let real people tell their stories. The video is so powerful because it’s local people saying exactly what they feel.

More than 26,000 Wandsworth residents are EU citizens. Brexit was an key issue for some voters.

While face-to-face contact will always be the best way to connect, social media grows every day. We need to go where people are, which is why these videos were promoted on Facebook, twitter and Instagram.

As we move online with our campaigns, voters might thank us for less leaflets: one organiser tells me that in the last election the leaflets he printed would form a pile taller than the Shard!

The response to this video confirmed that the environment is a key concern for voters. Our campaign was positive and based on evidence of what residents wanted.

We learned from 20,000 doorstep conversations, plus research and data. It’s tempting to talk about the things you care most about – but crucial to speak on topics that concern voters.

Our manifesto was ‘digital only’ and read by 5,000 people. There was a strong response, for no production cost. Overall, we included more people than ever before in the campaign through use of digital technology. It does remain a challenge and a concern that some people aren’t able to access material online.

It’s helpful to keep testing ideas and keep learning lessons. This video had a script and it went through a few versions before it was ready.

6. Donate to help us win Wandsworth
(Raised £2,000 in crowdsourced donations)

We were lucky to have amazing support from Owen Jones and Sadiq Khan throughout the campaign. In this video they join with lots of other Labour figures to ask for donations to win Wandsworth.

This video was pushed out to our supporters. It contributed to the great buzz of enthusiasm and a positive atmosphere for volunteers.

Video was an important part of how we got our message across during the election. It was useful for fundraising, member mobilisation and communicating with voters.

I’d recommend you consider video as part of your next election campaign. Think about what skills and equipment you’ll need and plan ahead. If you can, get someone with professional experience involved. I’m happy to explain more about what we did if you get in touch.

Wandsworth is a fantastic place to live. Its strong, diverse communities represent the best of modern London.

But with Conservatives in control locally and nationally, people are feeling the strain.

They once claimed to run a tight ship here, but they’ve become stuck in a tired and self-serving rut. They are trapped in a mind set that knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

When our most vulnerable residents need more protection than ever, the Tories have instead prioritised their relationships with property developers and lobbyists.

Most clearly seen at Battersea Power station. A £9 billion scheme with only 9% affordable housing.

Where the council allowed developers to cut 250 affordable homes.

Where the remaining affordable homes have been moved half a mile away from the river to an old industrial estate.

Where a Transparency International investigation found 85% of flats are sold to overseas investors, 44% from ‘high corruption risk’ jurisdictions.

This scheme has become a symbol of everything that’s gone wrong with Wandsworth’s Tory council.

So Wandsworth is now at a crossroads.

Continue with a council with the wrong priorities and no new ideas, or choose a dynamic team with a radically different vision built on fairness and common sense.

As our neighbourhoods change, we need a council with the right values. And as London grows as a global city, we need a fresh, practical approach that harnesses potential without creating imbalance or division.

Only Labour offers this.

Labour will keep Council Tax low – because it’s not right to ask those who are struggling to pay more. We’ll freeze council tax this year and next, and we’ll raise 2% on the social care precept to make sure older people get the care they need and to relieve the pressure on our NHS.

We’ll open up the books, cancel wasteful contracts and cut councillors’ expenses to help pay for much needed services. And we’ll work with local people to protect high streets, provide the homes our communities want, and stop Wandsworth being a soft touch for developers.

We won’t repeat the Tory mistakes of the past.

When they let down vulnerable children and have spent £14 million of local people’s money trying to set right those failings.

When they turned Battersea Park into a motor-racing track – and tried to charge children £2.50 to play in the adventure playground there.

Selling of thousands of affordable homes and building only hundreds in their place.

Labour’s team is principled, experienced and successful. We will put fairness first and stand up to powerful interests. We’ll match competence with compassion, protect neighbourhoods and support those who need it.

We will be ambitious, act with integrity and work tirelessly to make Wandsworth a place where families can thrive.

Wandsworth deserves better. It’s time for a change, we’re ready to serve.

That went quickly! A year ago today I was elected leader of Wandsworth Labour.

It’s been an extraordinary year in politics. Lots of joy mixed with some real sadness.

In terms of election victories, we’re probably in Wandsworth Labour’s most successful period ever:

Local boy Sadiq Khan is London Mayor, Leonie Cooper joined the London Assembly, Rosena Allin-Khan was elected as Tooting’s MP, and ace campaigners Paul White and Aydın Emre Dikerdem became councillors.

There’s a huge amount of hard work behind these victories. Wandsworth Labour is a team of 19 brilliant councillors backed by more than 5,000 Labour members in Battersea, Putney and Tooting.

We’re in our best position for 25 years and we aim to win the council in 2018.

Wandsworth Labour listens to local people. We try to be positive and practical. I’m proud of our powerful education funding campaign, which took us to school gates across the borough.

For our vigorous work on Brexit, Candida Jones listened to the stories of EU citizens in Wandsworth. Former Battersea MP Alf Dubs came to the Town Hall to support our call for the council to accept Syrian refugee families.

Simon Wady joined our team as full-time Campaign Manager in March. We’re lucky to have him.

The low points of the last year in terms of Tory policy include:

• More than 1,000 homeless local families live in Wandsworth temporary accommodation

• 400 jobs cut as Wandsworth merges its staff with Richmond council

• More than £10 million set aside to clear up the fall-out from a Wandsworth council child protection scandal uncovered by an Ofsted inspection

The lowest points were personal. Rex Osborn stood down as leader last May due to ill health and has spent much of the past year recuperating. We look forward to seeing Rex in full effect in the Town Hall soon.

Worse was to come: Councillor Sally-Ann Ephson passed away last summer after a long illness. She was just 49.

Hundreds of people attended Sally-Ann’s funeral in Tooting. Sadiq Khan led the tributes: “She was a ray of sunshine, much-loved by all who knew her. I will remember Sally-Ann fondly as a dear friend, determined campaigner and, above all, as someone who never stopped smiling. Rest in peace, Sally-Ann.”

Councillor Wendy Speck, who’s been a great Wandsworth Deputy Mayor this year, also gave a lovely tribute on Wandsworth Radio.

Wandsworth Labour was fully engaged during the EU referendum – where 75% of local people voted to ‘Remain’.

Volunteers are now working round the clock on a General Election.

We’re listening to local people every day in Battersea, in Putney and in Tooting – where we aim to re-elect our excellent local champion Rosena. It’s the third time in three years we’ve hit the streets to elect a Labour MP in Tooting!

The good news is that we like elections. Campaigning brings people together and Wandsworth is one of the most fun and exciting places in Britain to do Labour politics. Hundreds of volunteers help out each week. There’s a really positive team spirit.

A huge thank you from me to each councillor and every of our volunteers for making Wandsworth Labour what it is.

7. It’s not often you get to canvass with your heroes: Listening to local people in Tooting with the awesome Alf Dubs. The former Battersea MP, now Baron Dubs, this year persuaded the government to welcome hundreds of unaccompanied child refugees to the UK. (May)

8. Glastonbury’s more political than usual: the UK votes to leave the European Union and much of the shadow cabinet resigns. (June)

9. Rosena Allin-Khan becomes Tooting’s new MP in June, her election day overshadowed by the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox. Rosena’s pictured with ace campaigner Paul White, who was elected a Tooting ward councillor in August

10. Hundreds of local people attend the Get Active Battersea Festival on the Winstanley Estate. A chance for local people to see regeneration plans to demolish 700 homes on the estate and replace them with 2,000 new ones – and to play with a firefighter’s hose. (July)

11. Our friend and colleague, councillor Sally-Ann Ephson died this summer after a long illness. Tributes were led by Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, who said: “She was a ray of sunshine, much-loved by all who knew her. She served her constituents with dignity and grace. I will remember Sally-Ann fondly as a dear friend, determined campaigner and, above all, as someone who never stopped smiling. Rest in peace, Sally-Ann.”

I’ve spoken to local people over many months. I’ve not found one person in favour of building this 14-storey tower block on Battersea Park Road.

The council has logged more than 200 objections received, including two petitions. I should say that I wasn’t involved in either petition or any of the comments – this is entirely grass-roots opposition.

The main objections to the development are clear:

It’s too tall

It blocks people’s light, and their views

The architecture is not in keeping with the low-rise Victorian character of Battersea Park Road

Loss of privacy – a building of this height would overlook surrounding properties

The application does not comply with the London Plan or with council policy on tall buildings

All of which is true.

The council report captures some of the more colourful language used by residents: “outrageously high, out of proportion, intrusive, overbearing, unattractive, a monstrosity, a skyscraper.”

I note there were three letters of support.

I’ve sympathy with the resident who says Harris Academy “is doing a wonderful job in turning the school around to being one of best in the Borough”. It’s an excellent school that has improved greatly. The gym would be a big benefit.

I’d like to focus on two more points of view and will then sum up.

First, Jane Ellison, the Battersea MP says: “The application does not comply with the London Plan and that Council policy (DMS4 of the 2016 Development Management Document) suggests the site is in an area where tall buildings (ie five stories or higher) are inappropriate.”

Second, the Battersea Society objects to this application. “Specifically: the design, height, bulk and massing of the proposal respond poorly to the surrounding context including nearby listed buildings, and to the two adjacent conservation areas – the Latchmere Estate and Battersea Park Conservation Areas.”

From my perspective this is an important point. Latchmere only has one conservation area – the Latchmere Estate. It’s lovely and it is literally a re-writing of history to say this area is incoherent or lacks character.

I’ll conclude with some points about the impact this building will have.

A new 14-story tower on Battersea Park Road is just too much. It will be a beacon of anxiety – residents will ask: what’s stopping the council approving a tower block next to their two-storey Victorian street properties in Latchmere, Queenstown or St Mary’s Park or Shaftesbury?

People need to know they have some control over the way their neighbourhood looks and feels. Our urban environment must be under democratic control.

We can’t continue with such a massive gap between what people want for their neighbourhoods and the over-development being pushed upon them.

We do need to deliver more homes.

There’s an important political point here: tower blocks such as 3 Culvert Road call into disrepute the council’s whole home building programme. Resistance to any new developments will harden if people believe the council is happy to allow 14-storey tower blocks in their neighbourhood.

There is a place for towers, in certain agreed areas. Where they can be clustered – or as part of larger schemes that are balanced between low-rise and high-rise.

This is something else. This is not a template to solve our housing crisis. This is just a developer trying too hard to make a profit out of tight corner plot. I urge you to reject this application and the damaging precedent it will set.

Ladies and gentlemen, councillors – thank you for the chance to speak. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Simon Hogg, the new leader of the Wandsworth Labour Group.

Tonight’s event is all about selecting and welcoming a new Mayor as well as saying thank you to our outgoing Mayor for the work they’ve done over the last 12 months.

I’ve been to many Mayor Makings over the past few years and when deciding what to say to you tonight, I was advised that I can either use my speech to strike a sincere note, or as an opportunity to really roast the outgoing mayor.

I’ve not made up my mind which it’s going to be yet, so bear with me…

I’d like to start by saying a few words about the role of the Mayor – and it’s significance, particularly in Wandsworth.

Democratic leadership is for all the people. The Mayor – the ‘first citizen of Wandsworth’ – is a powerful symbol of that.

I want to reflect briefly on some of the people this community had in the past trusted with the job of acting on their behalf. Some of our local heroes.

A group of outsiders who helped to create the world we live in today.

A century ago Wandsworth gave Britain:

John Archer, a local photographer, who became London’s first black mayor in 1913.

John Burns, the 16th son of a washerwoman rose from Battersea’s slums to become an MP and Britain’s first working class cabinet member.

Sharpurji Saklatvala, Britain’s first Asian Communist MP in the 1920s.

A group of people like this had never been in power anywhere in the world before. They were outsiders, who our community had welcomed, absorbed – and in the end chose to elevate and celebrate.

This month, we’re celebrating a modern day story of similar significance – as local boy Sadiq Khan has been elected to be Mayor of London. Sadiq, who grew up on the Henry Prince estate in Earlsfield, started his political career serving 12 years as a Wandsworth councillor, followed by 11 years as Tooting’s MP.

His father, I understand, was a bus driver.

His victory is important. There are children growing up on council estates – in Wandsworth and across Britain – who may feel like outsiders, because of where they come from.

A child being called names because they look different and their parents don’t have as much money as some other families at school. But now that child will know the Mayor of London has been in their shoes. And that in Wandsworth there’s no ceiling for achievement for anyone.

Like the pioneering men and women I mentioned earlier, Sadiq’s service will set and break down barriers. In particular fighting that prejudice which says a man holds violent or extremist views just because of the religion he follows.

And it’s in this unifying role that our Mayor is at their most powerful. Wandsworth’s Mayor is central to the Borough’s cohesion. They organise and attend events that bring people together from all backgrounds and faiths. They also swear in hundreds of new British Citizens each year in the council chamber.

And so on to the outgoing Mayor, cllr Nardelli.

I’ve asked many colleagues what they made of your year in office.

Disappointingly, there was very little dirt.

Few people are aware that the Mayor of Wandsworth has a fully stocked bar at their disposal. I’m told that one of our previous mayors started every pre-council meeting with a triple gin.

But as a teetotaller, our mayor did not oblige us with any stories about getting carried away with the free bar.

Our whip – who has most to do with the mayor in her capacity as chair of our Council meetings – said she’d been one of the fairest he’d worked with. She put down her politics and went out of her way to treat all three political parties on the Council with an even hand.

So this may turn out to be the most generous roast in history!

I can say one colleague nominated cllr Nardelli for the award for “most original outfit with Mayoral chain” for the boots, Union Jack pullover and jaunty sailor hat worn with Mayoral chain at the Boat race party.

Her choice of charities was praised as bold and worthwhile: rehabilitation of addicted prisoners and Dyslexia.

She was able to acknowledge the success of colleagues from opposition – she said how pleased she was for Leonie Cooper after she was elected to the London Assembly and said how hard Leonie had worked.

The Roehampton cllrs are grateful she visited the Alton Activity Centre five separate times. This among hundreds of community engagements.

Cllr Nardelli had some difficult personal times during her mayoralty but she continued in her duties and that grit and dignity was appreciated by councillors on all sides. Councillors also mentioned the sterling work of cllr McDonnell the Deputy Mayor in taking on a wide range of engagements with grace and good humour.

Perhaps the strongest testament was from councillors who said the Mayor did the council proud in Ypres, where councillors visited to remember those of this borough who gave their lives in the service of their country.

As the Mayor said in her Civic Service reflections: “Ypres where we left so many souls in such frightful conditions, those who gave their lives that we can live free today. I read the citation at Ypres at the Last Post… a most moving experience while looking at the names of 52,000 men whose bodies were never found. I feel and think……. how proud some of those Wandsworth men would be if they were able to see the borough today.”

I think that’s an important point – the work we do today builds on the efforts of so many who’ve come before us. Building the good life here in Wandsworth is a shared project and a long-term project. We should care for each other, while we still can.

We should preserve our traditions, and ways of life. Wandsworth and its Mayoralty have a proud history and I’d like to thank cllr Nardelli for working so hard and staying the course. For being another link in the chain of Wandsworth Mayors stretching back into the past and hopefully far into the future.

One final note. – I can’t contain my excitement that Wendy Speck is to be the deputy Mayor for the year ahead.

I love Wendy. She’s served with me in Latchmere ward for the last six years and is a fantastic woman. Councillor Field, if you start to see science fiction DVDs appearing in the Mayor’s parlour – that’s Wendy. Watch out for Ewoks…

No one works harder than Wendy Speck. She’s an absolute dynamo and will be a great addition to the team next year.

So thank you to cllr Nadelli for your service this year, and best wishes to cllr Field and cllr Speck for what lies ahead. Wandsworth has a habit of making history and leading the way – and I know it will be no different over the next 12 months.